Entertainment

YouTube Music Awards Director Warns Viewers: Show Will Be Messy

Sunday's YouTube Music Awards — a new event for the Internet, influenced by the Internet and aired on the Internet — is taking a stab at reinventing the way fans participate and watch awards shows.

YouTube chose its nominees based on musicians' YouTube stats, including video views, Likes, comments and channel subscriptions. The winners will be decided by share counts for the each artist's nomination video on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.

Getting fans involved in the voting process via social media isn't new (the MTV Video Music Awards and People's Choice Awards do it, too). However, Google is doing a few things differently: The powers that be bypassed the entertainment experts who normally choose nominees, and they opted to air the show on YouTube rather than on TV.

But how will it all play out in the live stream on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET? Awards-show director Spike Jonze, who co-produced the box office's current number-one movie Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, told Mashable about what viewers should expect.

"The whole night is supposed to feel like a YouTube video — the raw messiness of making stuff," Jonze said. "My disclaimer is that none of us have ever done this before. There's bound to be a bit of a mess, hopefully in the best way, sometimes like YouTube videos are."

Jonze and his team will be recording live music videos for songs that don't have music videos yet — turning the night into an unpredictable, structured "mess" of sorts.

For example, Lady Gaga will perform "Dope" for the first time, while Jonze captures the moment. He hopes the "live music video" approach will remind viewers of YouTube's roots — the time back in the mid-2000s when musicians uploaded videos from their bedrooms.

"Those intimate moments were one of the first things YouTube was able to show that was nowhere else online," Jonze said.

Jonze and the performers have been rehearsing at a warehouse in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Although the show will feature Eminem, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, Avicii, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, M.I.A., Fifth Harmony (pictured, below), Girls’ Generation and Tyler The Creator, it will also showcase YouTube-grown artists and other emerging musicians, such as Lindsey Stirling, Walk off the Earth, Boyce Avenue and Epic Rap Battles.

Unlike other awards shows, the YTMA has only six categories (see list of nominees, below), some of which are unique to the event, such as the Response of the Year category, which recognizes the best covers, remixes and parodies.

Nominated in that category is trio Boyce Avenue and X Factor alums Fifth Harmony's viral cover of Justin Timberlake's "Mirrors." The girls of Fifth Harmony told Mashable that they are excited to be nominated for their duet with Boyce Avenue, a band they've been listening to since 2007. Boyce Avenue is known as the first successful cover band on YouTube; their YouTube channel pairs their viral covers with original music.

Musician Reggie Watts and actor Jason Schwartzman will host the show at New York City's Pier 36. YouTube will air hours of pre-taped and live performances from New York, London, Moscow, Seoul and Rio de Janeiro prior to the show.

Video of the Year Nominees

YouTube: "Honoring the world’s most loved music videos, these nominees represent the videos with the most fan engagement on YouTube over the last year. "

Demi Lovato: "Heart Attack"

Epic Rap Battles of History: "Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney"

Girls' Generation: "I Got A Boy"

Justin Bieber (feat. Nicki Minaj): "Beauty And A Beat"

Lady Gaga: "Applause"

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (feat. Mary Lambert): "Same Love"

Miley Cyrus: "We Can't Stop"

One Direction: "Best Song Ever"

PSY: "Gentleman"

Selena Gomez: "Come & Get It"

Artist of the Year Nominees

Youtube: "Honoring the acts YouTube fans have made stars, nominees represent the most watched, shared, liked, and subscribed-to artists on YouTube."

Eminem

Epic Rap Battles of History

Justin Bieber

Katy Perry

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

Nicki Minaj

One Direction

PSY

Rihanna

Taylor Swift

Response of the Year Nominees

YouTube: "Honoring the best fan remix, parody or response video, these nominees represent the top 'unofficial' fan videos on YouTube based on your views, shares and other activity."

Boyce Avenue (feat. Fifth Harmony): "Mirrors"

Jayesslee: "Gangnam Style"

Lindsey Stirling and Pentatonix: "Radioactive"

ThePianoGuys: "Titanium / Pavane"

Walk Off the Earth (feat. KRNFX): "I Knew You Were Trouble"

YouTube Phenomenon Nominees

YouTube: "Recognizing the YouTube trends the world could not escape from, nominees are based on the phenomena that generated the most fan videos."

Diamonds

Gangnam Style

Harlem Shake

I Knew You Were Trouble

Thrift Shop

YouTube Breakthrough Nominees

"Honoring the music world’s breakout new acts, nominees represent the artists who experienced the biggest growth in views and subscribers."

Kendrick Lamar

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

Naughty Boy

Passenger

Rudimental

Innovation of the Year Nominees

YouTube: "Starting with videos selected by an international panel of musicians, YouTubers and creative luminaries, we then selected the creative video innovations that resonated most with fans on YouTube, based on views, likes, shares and comments."

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is a leading source for news, information and resources for the Connected Generation. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world. Mashable's record 42 million unique visitors worldwide and 21 million social media followers are one of the most influential and engaged online communities. Founded in 2005, Mashable is headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco.